


incomplete

by O61



Category: BlazBlue
Genre: M/M, this isnt enough to qualify for goretober but its medical and this is october so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 16:56:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21211937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/O61/pseuds/O61
Summary: Kokonoe grimaces, not looking up from the terminal in front of her. “Look, it's as inconvenient for me as it is for him, but it's the easiest way to know what happened.”





	incomplete

**Author's Note:**

> i guess this is as good as it gets this month  
maybe next year ill post the monsterfucker thing i was hacking at. who knows  
either way ragna's fuckin dying

Shuddering, Ragna breaks into the fifth coughing fit in the last two hours. 

"You okay there?" Kagura can see the blood on Ragna's hand before he quickly wipes it on his pants, but decides not to press further. He's getting more worried, though.

"'M fine. Don't sweat it." 

So Kagura tries not to. 

Ragna's condition doesn't improve that night, or over the next few days. It's truly mystifying, as the grimoire should be healing whatever is wrong and it won't let him get sick. 

Concern is what brings Kagura to Kokonoe's lab three days later, to discuss what she could do to help. 

“A  _ biopsy _ ?” Kagura splutters, crossing his arms. “No. Hell no. Out of the question.” 

Kokonoe grimaces, not looking up from the terminal in front of her. “Look, it's as inconvenient for me as it is for him, but it's the easiest way to know what happened.”

“You'll kill him.”

“You realize that I  _ can't _ , right? Even if I tried, he wouldn't stay down. So calm down. Are we doing it, or what? You got any other ideas?”

Dragging a hand down his face, Kagura sighs in resignation. “No. I don't. I'll bring him down tomorrow.”

-

Ragna freezes when he sees the needle. He can feel the color drain from his face at how the light glints off of the sharp metal in Kokonoe's hand when she goes to fill the syringe. As soon as he makes to leave, a hand catches his arm. He tries to whip around to face whoever grabbed him, but they secure both his arms behind his back. He's hit with a sinking feeling when he turns his head and sees that it's Kagura, even though he should be less surprised since he's the only other person in the room. “What the hell are you doing?!” he hisses, trying to free himself, but he knows it's no use. 

Kagura sighs heavily, gripping his forearm a little tighter both to keep him still and out of pain. Ragna's not helping his hangover. His head throbs from the noise. “I'm sorry, babe, but you need to stay still.” It pains him to see Ragna so panicked. And it's all because of him. He tries to ignore it, but he can't with the way Ragna keeps struggling, pushing back against him when Kokonoe gets closer. 

“What the  _ fuck _ is your problem? Let me go, dammit!” Kokonoe's dangerously close now, and Ragna's surprised to see that, judging by her tired expression, she seems to want to do this as little as he does. Maybe she's not the sadist he assumed. She has to undo a few buttons on his shirt, since she's not going to be able to pierce the Azure Grimoire and his other arm doesn't have any veins. Ragna shifts in further discomfort, glaring at her. 

“We need to know what's wrong with you, unless you feel like getting this done by a stranger,” Kokonoe replies bluntly. She risks puncturing a lung this way, but it's not like she can't fix it while he's cut open. She shoves the needle in deep between his ribs, drawing a gasp from the depths of Ragna's chest at the shock. It takes three seconds after she presses down the plunger for Ragna to pass out. Kokonoe figured that, since she can't technically kill him, she could just use the sedative she uses on Tager before maintenance. Powerful stuff. She has to help Kagura keep his unconscious body from flopping to the ground and instead places him on the lab table, pulling the syringe from his chest after he's situated. “I got it from here.”

-

“He's gonna be fine,” Kokonoe had said when she gave Kagura a full breakdown of the situation four hours later. “The Azure Grimoire's starting to corrupt his lung, but he'll adjust to it.” This information doesn't help his unease, but at least he knows what he's worrying about now. 

Ragna grabs Kagura as soon as he comes in the door. “What the hell was that about earlier?” he demands, shaking Kagura by the collar of his cape. “ _ What did she do to me? _ ” It's not the first time he's had his guts put under a microscope, but seeing what hadn't healed of the scars on his body dredged up shitty memories abound and a deep sense of violation. 

Not a warm welcome home. All this yelling still isn't helping the dregs of Kagura's hangover. “Nothing. We just needed to see what was wrong, and that was the quickest way to do it.” He keeps his voice as calm and even as possible. That explanation doesn't stop him from feeling guilty, though. He knows Ragna has every right to be angry, but he still wishes he weren't. 

“The hell you did. I'm fine.” At that, Ragna breaks into another coughing fit, slapping Kagura's hand away when he goes to rub his back. “Don't touch me,” he snarls while he wipes the blood from his lips. 

“Look, it's my fault, okay? I'm the one that agreed to it.” Ragna's expression starts to darken with rage and Kagura decides it's best to interject before he's blasted with the fires of hell. “It's because I was worried about you. I wanted to know what was up, and Kokonoe suggested… that.” He wishes he hadn't gotten so caught up in worrying that he did something so drastic. Was getting that peace of mind really worth it? “I'm sorry.”

They both silently stare at each other for a few seconds. Neither of them know what to do with that apology. 

“Well?”

Kagura blinks. “'Well’ what?”

“What'd she say?” 

“The Azure Grimoire is getting to your lung. She said your body will adjust, but it'll probably take a while.” Kagura pauses for a moment. “Don't you ever worry about that thing?” This is a question that's been lingering on his conscience for a while. He doesn't know how Ragna deals with the reality of being slowly consumed by part of his body. It sounds terrifying. 

Now that Kagura brings it up, Ragna realizes that he never saw it as a problem because he banked on nobody ever caring about him and his well-being. That plan went out the window a long time ago. “I never really think about it.” He doesn't know what he'd do if he got caught up in considering it. He feels at peace with it, but that might be because of his lack of introspection. 

“I guess you've never thought about having it taken off, either, then.” Kagura steps forward to embrace Ragna, and this time Ragna accepts it, hugging Kagura in return. 

“Why the hell would I do that?” 

“You want it to keep eating away at you like that?” 

There's a long pause before Ragna mumbles, “I need it to keep everyone safe.” He knows he isn't weak without the Azure Grimoire, but it would be hard to give up after having it for so long. 

That statement is endearing, but Kagura sighs all the same. "We’re not defenseless, babe."

"I know…" There are still some people that don't  _ need _ to be fighting. And he thinks he has to do it for them. 

"I'm just worried about you."

Ragna presses his face into Kagura's shoulder. "Wish you weren't." 

Kagura laughs, patting Ragna's back. "No you don't."


End file.
